Overview
- Prosecutors say Darius Hazard, 44, told police he assaulted his parents, Venture Hazard, 76, and Donald Hazard, 83, then poured gasoline and set their North Adams home ablaze between 3 and 4 a.m. Monday.
- Firefighters entered the house around 7:10 a.m. and found both victims dead; the district attorney said the cause of death for each was smoke inhalation.
- Investigators issued a BOLO after determining Hazard lived at the residence but was missing, learned he skipped a normally punctual 10 a.m. work shift, and later spotted his vehicle on Route 7.
- Police took him into custody without incident after he pulled into a Walmart parking lot, where court documents quote him saying, “I guess I snapped,” and note he later stabbed himself before being taken to Berkshire Medical Center.
- He pleaded not guilty in district court and was ordered held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing, with representation by the Committee for Public Counsel Services.